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Paul Skenes kept his consistency on the mound, pitching five scoreless innings in a 2-0 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. He threw just 73 pitches in five innings, retiring all but three batters, with none of the Reds getting extra-base hits.
Jonathan India and Ty France managed singles, while TJ Friedl was hit by a pitch. Meanwhile, Skenes (11-3) struck out nine with a blistering changeup that earned him seven whiffs from eight attempts.
The outing gave Skenes his 16th game with seven or more strikeouts, and he lowered his season ERA to 1.99, which is the second lowest in MLB history through 22 starts.
Fans voiced their appreciation for the rookie on X (formerly Twitter).
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"We may need to have the discussion that Paul Skenes is the Cy Young," a fan pushed for Skenes to be honored as the NL's top pitcher.
"Much much better than Merrill," a fan compared Skenes and Jackson Merrill's NL ROTY chase.
"Thank god ROY isn’t based on how many games a player plays in like many Padres fans think it should be. Skenes has been ELITE," a fan commented.
"He clearly wants Rookie of the Legion," a fan wrote.
"Can he not go deeper than 5?" a fan questioned.
"Paul Skenes firing 5 scoreless innings and picking up win No. 11 in a Pirates shutout victory is impressive! It's great to see players stepping up and contributing to their team's success," a fan wrote in appreciation.
Paul Skenes on his dominance vs. Reds
In three starts against the divisional rivals Reds this season, Skenes has a 3-0 record with a 0.53 ERA, allowing just one earned run and striking out 25 batters.
Even so, the Pirates pitcher acknowledged that he has had to adapt each time he has faced Cincinnati (76-81).
“Obviously, the third time seeing them, you gotta get them out in different ways than you have in the past," Skenes said. “We did a good job adjusting to that today.”
The 22-year-old remains a favorite for the NL Rookie of the Year. There will certainly be a discussion about whether he has done enough for a Cy Young award if the Pirates (73-83) had included him in the rotation from the start of the year.
